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Wednesday, 19 November 2014

Let's be honest, I'm probably
going to be very much on my own when I say this but where is winter!?! I mean surely mid November calls for something
more in the way of a chill right now?

At the start of September
everyone was all about autumn. Now don't get me wrong I love autumn as much as
the next blogger, and I know technically November is still autumn, but I'm all
about the extremes. I'm the girl with my nose pressed to the glass in awe in
the midst of a hail storm; I like to go the the highest point to watch a storm
rolling in, and at the first sign of a snowflake I'm out there in my wellies,
face up to the sky, gloved hands wide open in welcome. Everyone always thinks it's
strange that I like the colder months. I love the hot weather just as much, but
for me it's got to be one or the other. Basically I either want to be wearing a
bikini, or I want to be donning a coat, hat, scarf and gloves. Currently our
weather is just, well, bleurgh!

I'm a bit of a weather freak. I
always check the weather every morning, and at the start of every week I check
the long range weather for the month. In the run up to a big event I can be
checking it two or three times a day! Strangely, in the run up to the wedding I
curbed my habit as basically I knew I had no control over it so there was no
use stressing about it, but normally I like to know what's coming.

Right now everything seems so
grey and miserable and a bit soggy really. I don't mind fog. Fog adds another
dimension to grey and damp.

Some of you probably think I'm
crackers for wanting Jack Frost to hurry his little self up, but honestly,
winter is so beautiful! You've only got to look at these pictures. I'm not even
talking a white Christmas just a hint of a frost and that chill where you can
see your breath in front of your face. Does anyone else remember bonfire nights
like this? Holding your sparkler with your gloves, warming your red nose by
standing near the fire? In comparison our bonfire night this year was
positively balmy!

I currently have a wardrobe full
of big snuggly jumpers, scarfs, boots, gloves and hats all eagerly awaiting the
day that they will get pulled from the wardrobe. Don't get me wrong, some have
fell lucky, but my poor gloves and bobble hat are feeling rather sorry for
themselves.

So come on Mother Nature, I'm
quite frankly fed up of rain and I'm longing for clear blue skies and crisp
winter mornings!

Wednesday, 12 November 2014

I am never going to be one of those girls who can pull off the perfect cat-eyed eye-liner with just a quick flick of the liner brush. Liquid liner for me has always been the bane of my life. I've tried numerous liquid liners over the years, but I've still never really managed to get it right. I am the typical girl whose line keeps getting thicker and thicker until literally my entire eyelid ends up being black! Not exactly the look I'm going for. The idea of wearing eyeliner on a daily basis - highly unlikely!

I don't now exactly what it was that made me try Collection's Extreme 24 Hour Felt Tip Liner as I hadn't read any reviews at that time. I think I was just having a bit of a Superdrug binge in all honesty, and in my quest to perfect eyeliner I though I would give it a go.

Firstly, it is exactly like a fine nibbed felt tipped pen. If you use the tip you will get a tiny line and if you use it along the flat you will get a much thicker line. The consistency of the liquid is again like a felt tip. It isn't wet like most liquid liners. You might argue that it's not really a liquid liner on that basis, but it isn't a kohl pencil or a gel so it's difficult to say where this sits in the liner society. It does mean it dries quite quickly, but this also means you can build it up, so if it is looking a bit faint in places, you can go over it again and make it blacker and thicker.

In terms of it's claim to last 24 hours, well I think this is certainly exaggerated. It doesn't fully last a full day at work for me when slicked on quickly whilst half asleep in a morning (yes I am one of those people that wears eyeliner daily now!) but weirdly on a night out with all make up and primer in place it stays pretty solidly actually, so the message if you put the prep in you will get the results - but I still doubt it will last 24 hours. At £2.99 though, it's difficult to complain about that too much, and that it is the only liquid liner I've ever repurchased (in more than one colour!)

Sunday, 2 November 2014

Now things are more or less back to normal, I'm trying to get back into some of my regular posting habits. I still have some wedding-y DIY posts to show, but I also want to do some of the things that BBB was always about, before things got all married off around here.

I used to do a book review regularly every month and I'm not only back with a review, but also a giveaway too!

I've talked about Percy Jackson novels before, when I downloaded the entire first series to my Kindle to take on holiday and I also picked it as my choice for Alex's A Blogging Good Read. I was sad when the original series came to an end but accepted that's what happens.

I then discovered Rick Riordan had created a whole new series featuring the infamous Jackson and the Greek Gods, but this time incorporating their Roman counterparts. More mythology! Excellent! I've always loved Greek Mythology, however I was never really aware of Roman mythology and how they were so similar to the Greeks, so the comparatives throughout the series have been really fun.

The Blood of Olympus* is the final book in the Heroes of Olympus series. The Earth Mother Gaia is about to rise and destroy all the Gods and demigods - both Greek and Roman. The Greek and Roman demigod camps are on the brink of war, and the only thing that can stop all this occurring is a group of seven demigods, thrown together by the Goddess Hera, who also though it would be a good idea to wipe Percy's memory and make him Roman. By now Percy is fully re-immersed in his Greek self but suffering the aftermath of a wander through Tartarus (the most horrifying and deepest echelons of the Underworld.)

The final book in any series is bound to be fast-paced, leading up to the climatic ending, however I found the ending just a bit too fast. It felt like it happened over the space of two chapters, and it was hard to see exactly how things took place at times. There was a definite feeling within this book that the characters had matured throughout the course of the series, aside from Leo, who actually towards the end of the book started to irritate me slightly, although, on reflection he was perhaps the most accurate portrayal of a 15 year old boy!

Clearly if you've read the rest of the series its a bit of a no brainer for you to read this one, as not finishing a series is akin to not finishing an individual book for me - I have to know the end! I obviously wouldn't recommend you pick this up as your first delve into the world weaved by Rick Riordan, as there is reference to past books which will confuse the hell out of you.

What isn't necessary is a prior knowledge of the first series. It is useful, but only a handful of characters feature, and there is enough re-capping to catch you up, that you won't feel you're picking something up midway through.

Which leads my nicely on to my giveaway! I have a copy of the first book in the Heroes of Olympus Series, The Lost Hero to give away to one lucky winner! In order to enter, please comment below with how you follow my blog (come on it's only fair!) and what you're currently reading, so I can add some new reads to my to be read list! Also it would be useful if you could leave a twitter handle or an email address so I can contact you if you are the lucky winner. I will close the giveaway on 16th November at 12pm GMT and draw names out of a hat!